Sleepless from therapy

[Deleted member 38906]

I've been noticing that after I leave a therapy session my sleep gets messed for a couple of nights. I have severe anxiety, I wake up several times throughout the night and have a lot of strange dreams. Usually of me as a child searching for something or being chased or something stressful like that. It doesn't necessarily have to be a difficult session for this to happen. It's so predictable that I always expect not to sleep well after my session and try not to plan anything demanding the day after.It almost feels like the therapy session awakens parts of my psyche that are wounded and stirs up a lot in my subconscious. Does anyone else go through the same thing after a session?

 

[EveHarrington]

Yes, every session.

Today I'm feeling the effects from yesterday.

 

[Tinyflame]

Anything that stirs up 'stuff'.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Does anyone else go through the same thing after a session?

Yep! I generally sleep the entire day of, being super unproducutive and then have crazy nightmares, unabilty to go to sleep for hours upon hours, and wake up an insane number of times for at least a few days. I see him weekly but when we have had gaps it has gone on a week or more.

 

[Emotional girl]

I also suffer from this problem especially on the night that I have had my therapy session.
I have all these thoughts going around about what happened during the session and often I wish that I had another therapy session the next day so I could go over what is going on in my head.

 

[NightSky]

Yes. I feel the vulnerability hangover and can't sleep after. I feel exposed and triggered usually and toss and turn all night. Not always having nightmares but always feeling messed up and always feel like I wish I had a session the next day, like Emotional girl said.

 

[Hooper]

I get the sleepless nights before therapy. I try to collect my thoughts so I go over what I want to discuss and make the most of my time. Afterwards not as much but I'm not saying it doesn't happen. It's mostly what happens during the course of a normal day that sets me off. I went to take my kids to the farm only to be set off by a wife of a great family I never met who was molested by her step father. There's no predicting when something will set me off. This wife was pressing me for details of the effect of my parents divorce on me since her kids were the same age of myself and my brothers. She was just a good mom and once I figured that out I opened up. It wasn't until later I learned her step father molested her. I live in the USA. We are supposed to be a civilized society but my wife and all of my brothers wives have been raped and the justice system is futile. It's very effective at letting rapist off the hook and attacking victims but again we are supposed to be civilized. It has affected me in a bad way and my brothers in a minor way as far as their wives but don't dare to ask them how they would feel if it happened to their daughter. I don't get it. $2k in therapy and I'm progressing ever so slightly. Wish you well.
hooper

 

[Beekeeper]

I've been noticing that after I leave a therapy session my sleep gets messed for a couple of nights. I have...

Yes this happens to me too, after therapy, except that I get the anxiety dreams where everything is going wrong practically every night to the extent that I get anxious about going to bed and stay up till I am really very tired. After a therapy session it gets worse, so I have the therapy on a Friday evening so I have the weekend to 'recover' (i.e. go back down to my normal abnormal level).

 

[Dana1010]

It almost feels like the therapy session awakens parts of my psyche that are wounded and stirs up a lot in my subconscious.

It quite likely does, from what I understand about therapy.

I've been having similar experiences in the past couple of weeks -- waking several times during the night. There may a memory or just some fact about myself or my life accompanied by a sense of catastrophe (oh no, oh no, this can't be). It's as if I am realizing these things for the first time. It was such a terror the last few nights, I wanted to jump out of bed and just end it.

Is this the "danger zone" before things start to improve? I don't know.

 

[Beekeeper]

I think it is

 

[SinkorSwim]

Had therapy yesterday and had a dream last night that my house got hit by a tornado. Woke up three times during the night. I kind of read into what dreams mean and having a dream about a tornado signifies changes in my life. So it makes sense!